LOS ANGELES | Transportation News & Discussion

[pesto]

Originally Posted by M II A II R II K

L.A.’s Westside Subway is Practically Ready for Construction, But Its Completion Could be 25 Years Off

Read More: http://www.urbanophile.com/2012/05/3...onah-freemark/

Mostly rehashed history, but with a few problems.

The real cause of the delay in building is NOT budget constraints, it is the CHOICE to build useless busy-work projects BEFORE the Purple Line.

The VA comments are accurate if this is all there is to VA. But the comments ignore the proposed intermodal station at the VA, which was the reason not to stop at Bundy. Without that, the stop makes no sense (too close to Westwood; minimal people). Is this an oversight or has MTA dumped these plans?

[LAofAnaheim]

Originally Posted by pesto

Mostly rehashed history, but with a few problems.

The real cause of the delay in building is NOT budget constraints, it is the CHOICE to build useless busy-work projects BEFORE the Purple Line.

The VA comments are accurate if this is all there is to VA. But the comments ignore the proposed intermodal station at the VA, which was the reason not to stop at Bundy. Without that, the stop makes no sense (too close to Westwood; minimal people). Is this an oversight or has MTA dumped these plans?

The problem was that Measure R said the subway will go to Westwood. The VA is in Westwood and is the furthest west the subway could go. So instead of stopping at UCLA, Metro believed it would be better to send the subway as far west as possible to the other side of the 405. Thus, the VA station/situation was created!

[JRinSoCal]

Originally Posted by LAofAnaheim

The VA is in Westwood and is the furthest west the subway could go.

What is the reason for this? I thought the subway would eventually reach SaMo? Is this still in future plans?

[LAofAnaheim]

Originally Posted by JRinSoCal

What is the reason for this? I thought the subway would eventually reach SaMo? Is this still in future plans?

It's called "sharing the pie" in regards to Measure R. Santa Monica was getting the Expo Line in Measure R, thus it was unfortunately unfair to give Santa Monica 2 rail lines part of Measure R, when other districts/neighborhoods/cities would get 1 or 0. That was your reason.

Yes, the Santa Monica extension is either part of the unfunded long range transportation plan, so it will come.......one day. That's as long as Beverly Hills quits it with the lawsuits (2nd one was filed today by the city, not even associated with BHUSD!).

[pesto]

Originally Posted by LAofAnaheim

The problem was that Measure R said the subway will go to Westwood. The VA is in Westwood and is the furthest west the subway could go. So instead of stopping at UCLA, Metro believed it would be better to send the subway as far west as possible to the other side of the 405. Thus, the VA station/situation was created!

Interesting, did not know that. If there is really no plan for an interchange with bus/rail/cars at the VA, then Bundy makes more sense.

[ltsmotorsport]

Originally Posted by Yankee

Kind of a weird request, but I am looking for a cool old timey-looking map poster of the Pacific Electric Railway system. AllPosters and Zazzle don't have anything like it. I'd even settle for just a map of greater LA, but I'm looking for that old timey yellow-ish stylized font type map, think something that would be on the wall of an LAPD criminal investigation office in like 1966 (or rather in a movie that would have that ). But the red car system would be perfect. I'm looking for something sizable. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

This one is from the wikipedia article on the PER. Page mentions it's from 1920.

[LAofAnaheim]

Originally Posted by pesto

Interesting, did not know that. If there is really no plan for an interchange with bus/rail/cars at the VA, then Bundy makes more sense.

Measure R prevents the subway going west of Westwood. Bundy is in the West LA neighborhood. Maybe with Measure R+ they will detail a way to get the subway all the way to Santa Monica. Thereby, visitors in Santa Monica can take a subway directly to Westwood/UCLA, Century City, Beverly Hills, etc.. without having to take the Expo Line + a transfer.

[pesto]

Originally Posted by LAofAnaheim

Measure R prevents the subway going west of Westwood. Bundy is in the West LA neighborhood. Maybe with Measure R+ they will detail a way to get the subway all the way to Santa Monica. Thereby, visitors in Santa Monica can take a subway directly to Westwood/UCLA, Century City, Beverly Hills, etc.. without having to take the Expo Line + a transfer.

So you are saying that it is possible that VA will be dropped if and when the final stage of Purple is funded?

I thought the theory for using VA was that it had sufficient parking and station space available to build a multi-level car-bus-subway station. I had a chat with a metro spokesperson who said this a couple of years ago. If that is no longer on the table, they should just stop as Westwood Blvd. and make the next stop Bundy when money becomes available.

[edluva]

Originally Posted by pesto

So you are saying that it is possible that VA will be dropped if and when the final stage of Purple is funded?

I thought the theory for using VA was that it had sufficient parking and station space available to build a multi-level car-bus-subway station. I had a chat with a metro spokesperson who said this a couple of years ago. If that is no longer on the table, they should just stop as Westwood Blvd. and make the next stop Bundy when money becomes available.

i think it is unlikely they would drop VA once a final EIR has been certified. any changes will require the EIR be redone as it could possibly affect environmental impact on the rest of the line, and that would be costly, not to mention time consuming, especially now that they've factored in bev hills' impending lawsuite.

[Yankee]

Originally Posted by ChiPsy

Is this along the lines of what you're looking for? It's from 1906 -- very cool-looking map either way. You might want to check out the UT source site, too; they appear to have quite a few historical maps.

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/histo...lines-1906.pdf

Hmm, no something at least from the 20s, and bigger, but thanks for the effort.

Originally Posted by ltsmotorsport

This one is from the wikipedia article on the PER. Page mentions it's from 1920.

Yes, this is perfect, but I need a poster. I feel like if I print this one it won't be nearly big enough. But thanks.

On an unrelated note, the Expo line still doesn't show up on Google Maps. Get on it Google.

[202_Cyclist]

Unlike more tax loopholes for billionaires, investing in transit is creating good jobs.

Crenshaw-LAX rail line is promising jobs

By Douglas Morino
Torrance Daily Breeze
06/04/2012

"Construction crews began work this week relocating underground electricity and sewer lines in the Crenshaw/LAX transit corridor, signaling the start of a massive public transportation project that is expected to create thousands of jobs for local low-income residents.

Once completed, the 8.5-mile light rail line will connect southwestern Los Angeles and LAX. Service is expected to begin by 2018.

The utility relocation work is the first contract awarded under Metro's new Project Labor Agreement, a pact between Metro and building trade groups that calls for hiring economically disadvantaged workers..."

http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/ci_2...obs?source=rss

[202_Cyclist]

Two more Expo Line stations to open June 20


Image courtesy of the LA Times.

By Ari Bloomekatz
June 5, 2012
Los Angeles Times

"The new Expo Line's Culver City station is scheduled to open June 20, officials said Tuesday.

The Expo Line opened in late April, running 7.9 miles from downtown to a station at La Cienega and Jefferson boulevards. It was initially supposed to go another 0.7 miles to Culver City, but completion of the final leg was delayed.

Transportation officials said they would also be opening the station at Farmdale Avenue, near Dorsey High School, on June 20, the only other station that remained unopened..."

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lano...ion-opens.html

[StethJeff]

Originally Posted by 202_Cyclist

Two more Expo Line stations to open June 20


Image courtesy of the LA Times.

By Ari Bloomekatz
June 5, 2012
Los Angeles Times

"The new Expo Line's Culver City station is scheduled to open June 20, officials said Tuesday.

The Expo Line opened in late April, running 7.9 miles from downtown to a station at La Cienega and Jefferson boulevards. It was initially supposed to go another 0.7 miles to Culver City, but completion of the final leg was delayed.

Transportation officials said they would also be opening the station at Farmdale Avenue, near Dorsey High School, on June 20, the only other station that remained unopened..."

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lano...ion-opens.html

finally. this line is largely irrelevant to most travelers until it goes from CC to DTLA.

[ChrisLA]

Yes I can and hardly wait, although I live in Long Beach my wife mom lives along this line and would use it to hang out over in Culver City when we are in that area.

It would also be nice if they can speed it up some along stretch heading north from USC to Downtown LA, it's so slow it's torture.

The other thing I don't understand is why the Farmdale Avenue station isn't open. They actually announce the stop and even paused there. I haven't seen anything physically that's preventing them from opening this station.

I have a feeling Farmdale will be busy with kids in the morning and early afternoon since it is at the front door of Dorsey High School.

[pesto]

Originally Posted by ChrisLA

Yes I can and hardly wait, although I live in Long Beach my wife mom lives along this line and would use it to hang out over in Culver City when we are in that area.

It would also be nice if they can speed it up some along stretch heading north from USC to Downtown LA, it's so slow it's torture.

The other thing I don't understand is why the Farmdale Avenue station isn't open. They actually announce the stop and even paused there. I haven't seen anything physically that's preventing them from opening this station.

I have a feeling Farmdale will be busy with kids in the morning and early afternoon since it is at the front door of Dorsey High School.

I suspect that the pause is required by the operating rules for the station; wasn't the whole point of having one to slow down trains in the area? Why it isn't taking passengers I have no idea.

Steth: funny to think of CC as being so crucialt but clearly with some reasonable way of connecting to DT CC and local development, it could be a major stop. A very decent employment, entertainment and civic center.

[LAofAnaheim]

Originally Posted by ChrisLA

Yes I can and hardly wait, although I live in Long Beach my wife mom lives along this line and would use it to hang out over in Culver City when we are in that area.

It would also be nice if they can speed it up some along stretch heading north from USC to Downtown LA, it's so slow it's torture.

The other thing I don't understand is why the Farmdale Avenue station isn't open. They actually announce the stop and even paused there. I haven't seen anything physically that's preventing them from opening this station.

I have a feeling Farmdale will be busy with kids in the morning and early afternoon since it is at the front door of Dorsey High School.

Farmdale has to operate as a "stop-and-proceed" intersection. For FixExpo, the crossing gates were not sufficient, they wanted the intersection fully grade seperated from the train by putting it underground. However, Metro did not have the financial means to build an extra bridge and the utility pipes below Farmdale were difficult to manuever. So the next alternative was to build a station, since PUC determiend that the intersection had to be "stop-and-go". Farmdale is a late addition to the Metro planning, but is due more to satisfy community opposition/PUC. So the settlement with Farmdale, is that trains cannnot go faster than 15 mph crossing the intersection and Metro has to stop and proceed before crossing the gated intersection.

[Swede]

So that stop is there for reasons other than passenger flows, other than an expected need for people to get on/off there? Will be interesting to see passenger numbers at that station and how those develop. Could the neighborhood around it densify and become more transit oriented?

[BrandonJXN]

Originally Posted by Swede

So that stop is there for reasons other than passenger flows, other than an expected need for people to get on/off there? Will be interesting to see passenger numbers at that station and how those develop. Could the neighborhood around it densify and become more transit oriented?

I lived in Culver City for 2 years and it's awesome already. It's walkable, clean, safe, and very very lively. It's about as close as urban as you are going to get from a city in LA not named Hollywood, downtown, etc.

The Expo Line will only greatly add to that.

[StethJeff]

Originally Posted by ThreeHundred

I lived in Culver City for 2 years and it's awesome already. It's walkable, clean, safe, and very very lively. It's about as close as urban as you are going to get from a city in LA not named Hollywood, downtown, etc.

The Expo Line will only greatly add to that.

Agreed. Culver City will definitely have more growth, yuppies, and activity than it does now when it becomes one of the major stops along this line. Culver City is a perfect example of an area that can develop seamless TODs along a rail line. Can't wait to see it happen.

[Kingofthehill]

Originally Posted by ThreeHundred

I lived in Culver City for 2 years and it's awesome already. It's walkable, clean, safe, and very very lively. It's about as close as urban as you are going to get from a city in LA not named Hollywood, downtown, etc.

The Expo Line will only greatly add to that.

I think it is pretty clear that he was referring to Farmdale, of which still boggles me. IMO, Metro set a terrible precedent by yielding to unabashed NIMBYism (no matter how it was presented).